About the Farm"Since we began selling at the Fair Trade price we have seen a big improvement in our quality of life. Cooperative members can now afford to buy clothes and medicine for their families, and they benefit from the new programs the cooperative has implemented with revenue from Fair Trade sales." -- Antonio Carmelo Camposeco, Guaya'b President

​Asociación Civil Guaya'b is a coffee cooperative located in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. The cooperative currently consists of 330 members, 316 of whom are of indigenous descent. Formally established in 1998, Guaya'b began selling to the Fair Trade market in 2000. The sales made by Guaya'b have brought stability to the cooperative and have enabled members to meet their basic needs. With the Fair Trade price, Guaya'b farmers have increased their own earnings and reinvested a portion of their profits into the community. As a result, the region’s economy is more stable and the rate of migration has decreased. Some of the projects conducted with Fair Trade premiums include:

Medical Insurance Guaya'b cooperative members voted to finance medical insurance for members and their families with Fair Trade premiums.

Low Interest Micro Loans Guaya'b cooperative members are provided with low-interest loans which allows them to avoid unscrupulous local lenders.

Income from Additional Crops Guaya'b members have invested premium funds into growing peanuts, fruit and peppers for sale in local markets.

Guaya'b coffee is also certified bird-friendly by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC). For more information about bird-friendly coffee, visit the SMBC website

Great for birds and for people

With widespread clear cutting for sun coffee plantations, it's imperative to protect the tropical forest that remains and rehabilitate degraded ecosystems. Every cup of Bird Friendly coffee you drink encourages more farmers to grow in the shade, which is good for birds and for people.

First, the coffee is certified organic, which means managing a healthy soil base and applying no harmful pesticides to the coffee that could otherwise run off into streams and rivers. This helps reduce the billions of pounds of noxious chemicals injected annually into natural ecosystems that support wildlife and communities.

But our program goes a step further, requiring a variety of native shade trees throughout the coffee plantation. Through decades of research, we've learned the combination of foliage cover, tree height and diversity needed to provide suitable migratory bird habitat while maintaining productive farms. Producers must be recertified every three years to ensure they continue to meet these requirements and can truly call themselves Bird Friendly.

This results in better-tasting coffee—its rich flavor comes from beans maturing slowly in the shade. Farmers protect water sources for their communities and sequester carbon by managing the forest-like system, which also provides a host of other products like cacao and spices. And the premium prices they fetch for Bird Friendly coffee supports their families and local economies. ​